People often ask me, "Where do issues come from? I mean, are you deliberately pushing a hidden agenda by steering
the national conversation toward certain topics or what?" And I say ha ha no of course not.

The truth is that issues
are carefully curated by a panel of experts, known as Editors, who sift through your nation to find the most
urgent, thought-provoking, or challenging matters of the day, and present them to you in handy multiple
choice format.

But where do Editors come from? Good question. Honestly, I have no idea. All I know is first one showed up and
every time I turn around there are more. So to explain, here is one of them:

Issues are the lifeblood of NationStates. Without them, our nations wouldn't be able to grow and we wouldn't be able to chuckle at in-game typos. We recently hit a milestone of 600 issues and we continue to add new issues every week. On behalf of the editing team, I'd like to extend a big thank you to all the aspiring writers, commentators, stat-hounds, and issue nitpickers who made it all possible. You all make NationStates a better place and it is inspiring to see that people continue to write and contribute to the game.

On that regard, it is my pleasure to announce a new Issues Contest. This is our latest contest that allows you the chance to become an illustrious Issues Editor.

The primary role of an Issues Editor is to turn player-submitted issues into game-ready format. This process involves selecting promising submissions—and discarding those that won't be used, editing the text, and then deciding on the statistical effects the choices will have.

Being an Issue Editor means that not only will you receive a fancy badge on your nation page, you'll be recognized in the forums by that lovely puke-brown color.. You'll get to join a dynamic team who work tirelessly to edit, polish, and help get issues added to the game. You'll be behind a part of that exclusive club who work behind the scenes to make sure that issues are ready to be added to NationStates canon. We're a fun and friendly bunch. The biggest argument we ever had was over what color a character's lab coat should be. Oh, and there's pizza in the back. Max is buying. [Ed: This is a lie. There is no pizza.]

If you'd like to enter, please submit a new, original issue that you have authored via
the usual method. Entries are limited to one per player, so make sure you're happy with your submission before entering—there is no rush. The Contest closes on January 15th 2017. Make sure you check the "Issues Contest" checkbox, so we know it's your entry.

Please see this thread for more information. The Got Issues? forum is your friend. Good luck and happy writing!